The first models of extraterrestrial houses for humans on the Moon and Mars are being constructed on Earth using an unexpected building material- mushrooms. In order to create the new bio-habitats, the American architecture company Red House is collaborating with NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Bits and Atoms, according to Euronews Next.
Red House combines mycelium, a fungus whose structure is an underground network of connecting fibres, with waste biomass from Namibia's famed "encroacher bush," an invasive species that drains groundwater, turning fertile areas into deserts. The goal is to produce a sustainable building material that is apparently stronger than concrete as well as food. Christopher Maurer, founder and principal architect at Red House told Euronews Next, "Mycelium has unique properties that act like a glue to bind substrates (such as construction debris and plants) together."
The team created a simulation of a possibility in future to Mars carrying a folded shelter filled with dried algae, sometimes known as sea emerald, as well as latent mycelium. Once it reaches Mars, a rover vehicle would drive across its surface and inject water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide into the sealed bag to rehydrate the algae. The reaction will result in the production of oxygen, which will renew the structure and feed the mycelium at the same time. The mycelium will then develop into the correct structural shape and combine with the algae to create a biomass that is extremely hard.
The ability of the fungus-bonded biomass to travel from Earth as a tiny folded mass that expands into "tonnes and tonnes of material" at its destination is commendable, as per the outlet. It is to be noted that it also has the "ability to convert high energy radiation, which is the main liability, into a resource for creating more biomass".
Mr Maurer told the outlet, "Radiation is the main thing that prevents us from going to Mars. Research has demonstrated that mycelium may act as a radiation barrier "at higher levels than most materials."
Estimating the time it would take for the implementation of the project, he said, "If we get moonshot money then we can do it in a matter of years because we have a lot of the parts in place. But if we continue at the pace we're doing there, waiting for technology to trickle in from all over, it can be decades." However, NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts has already completed the proof-of-concept stage, and the Red House prototype is now in architectural design development. A small demonstration would be staged in phase three.
Euronews Next stated that the prototype will travel to the Moon "in a kind of sealed container that will have water and carbon dioxide for feeding the algae", which will then make oxygen that feeds the fungi.
NASA would need to be able to find water, possibly on Mars' surface, in order to complete the large-scale, lengthy expedition.
